Clouds are Orange
by TsukiNoKagura
Summary: If I hadn't met him, I would not have gone through so much pain. But without meeting him, I would not have known such happiness. He was my first love; he taught me how to protect something precious to me. But my first love… is no longer here. AU IchiRuki.
1. Prologue

**Clouds are Orange by**** TsukiNoKagura**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor Koizora_

_Summary: __Rukia yearns to fall in love, but her idealistic stereotype of a first love was crushed when she met Ichigo- A delinquent boy at her school she was initially afraid of. Based on the tragic novel 'Koizora' written by Mika on first-hand account. Changes are made to keep the cast in character. IchiRuki, GrimmNel, a hint of RenRuki and KaienRuki.

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_**1. Prologue**

She stared passively out the train window, traces of morning fog still lingered around the glass. She reached out to wipe away the disturbance with her enveloped hand; she stopped to notice the knitted pattern of a sunset on the gloves she was wearing. Shards of memories flashed across her head and she quickly withdrew her hand.

"_Why red?" He asked and examined her work-in-progress "You hate the colour red"._

"_Because I'm that awesome, face it." She rolled her eyes and continued to knit. He closed his eyes and leaned back peacefully, listening to her complaints everytime she misses a loop._

"Rukia, are you alright?" her friend sitting next to her asked concernedly when he noticed teardrops forming in her eyes; she nodded and smiled to reassure him. The boy grinned back and ruffled her hair "Alright, but tell me if you're not feeling too well; you know, that train-sickness…" he trailed off. She struggled to keep her treasured black locks back to their original flawless place, but flashbacks of _him_ hit her unwilling mind once again.

"_Yo Rukia! Good morning!" he literally sprinted across the small library and jumped onto the table, knocking her books over in the process._

"_Why did you do that for!" she glared and threw a half-hearted punch, he caught it easily with one hand and ruffled her hair with the other "You're so cute when I piss you off…OW!" he let go of her hand, only to be rewarded with a blow to the stomach.

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_ The train arrived at its destination with loud rumbling. The small girl picked up her luggage and stepped off her transport. It wasn't such a pleasant day, heavy clouds loomed over the skies and droplets of rain had already created a steady beat on the rooftop of the station.

"Rukia!" a voice from the distance called. She looked up to see her sister Hisana waving at her behind the ticket-triggered gates. She had been orphaned since birth and had lived within the orphanage with her sister for most of her life. It was only until her sister got married to Byakuya Kuchiki- the grandson of a famous business tycoon did she finally get to have a home of her own.

"Nee-san!" she called back and quickly ran towards the exit, abandoning her companions behind her.

Hisana greeted her with a warm hug, "We missed you so much!" her voice became muffled from the tight embrace "I can't believe it's already been three whole years since you moved to Tokyo!"

"Yeah…" Rukia nodded and quickly escaped from the clasps of death. "Wait… We?" She looked around and finally found her brother-in-law talking on the phone inside an expensive car parked by the street.

"After hearing that you're coming back to visit today he dropped his whole schedule just to see you!" her sister exclaimed as she ushered Rukia to their vehicle "That aside," she changed the topic when they got in the car "Isn't the weather just awful! Look at those dull grey clouds and that rain!"

"He must be feeling gloomy today…" Rukia whispered to herself as she closed her eyes, welcoming her past to flood her thoughts.

_ If I hadn't met him, I would not have gone through so much pain. But without meeting him, I would not have known such happiness. He was my first love; he taught me how to protect something precious to me. But my first love… is no longer here.

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__**A/N:**__** It's been literally 2 years since my last update, apologies! I've been hooked on heaps of other distractions to write properly. My past grammatical mistakes annoyed me so I didn't bother to continue any of my old fics either.**_

_**This story is based on the Koizora phenomenon. I recently watched the movie and I couldn't forget about it, no matter how hard I tried the depressing-ness just came flooding in 24/7 so to its tribute I dedicate this story. You all should hope that I will be able to forget about it soon and get on with my life.**_

_**Rukia's headstrong personality will make significant changes to some of the plot. And I strongly recommend you to at least read about this movie on Wikipedia to get a basic idea of the plot, there will be twists and turns as well so don't rely on that too much.**_

_**To VOH, ML and KM readers, YES it will be updated as soon as I can put my head to it.**_

_**Like it? Hate it? R&R it!**_


	2. How I Found You

**Chapter One: How I Found You**

_Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach, Mika owns Koizora_

_*Seven years ago*_

"Rise and Shine Rukia! It's the last day of school before your Winter Break and I want you to give it all you got." Hisana's voice echoed throughout the small bedroom as her sister tossed and turned on the simple bed covered in Chappy the Rabbit bedding. The woman pulled open the blinds, revealing a clear, blue sky outside the window.

"Five more minutes…" Rukia yawned and lazily held out a hand signalling the number '5' before pulling her blankets over her head.

"Byakuya wants you to bring him his tie!" Hisana spoke gently yet directly into the girl's ear and Rukia shot up like a needle before hastily putting on her uniform. Pleased with herself, Hisana exited the room and began to count down.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1…" before she finished counting her petite sister appeared before her in the speed of light. "Where did nii-sama last leave his tie?" she asked as if she was on an important mission as an army recruit for the General.

"Just kidding" Hisana laughed "He left an hour ago~"

"_Oneeeeee-chaaaaaaan!"__  
_

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"Ah Rukia-chan, Good Morning!" A girl with green hair looked up from her handheld mirror and waved at her friend. Rukia met Nel in the first year of middle school when they had to sit next to eachother during mathematics. Nel is the complete opposite of Rukia and always acted like a 5 year-old. While Rukia made sure her hair stayed impeccably neat Nel always had hers in a stylish ponytail adorned with hair accessories. The term "Opposites attract" would fit the two perfectly.

"Sorry, I'm running a little late Nel-chan, Hisana lied to me again this morning" Rukia sighed as she tied her shoelaces "I have to constantly remind myself that nii-sama leaves early in the morning and never stayed for breakfast"

"Aww, but it's the only effective method to wake you up!" Nel smiled.

Rukia however tuned out all of a sudden"Nel-chan… _is that make-up you're wearing_?" she gasped and placed a hand on Nel's cheek, the girl was clearly wearing eye shadow and traces of the glitter could definitely be found on Nel's eyelids.

"Who are you trying to impress all made-up like that?" Rukia gave her friend a nudge on the shoulder "as far as I'm concerned you've never came in contact with any of this stuff" she teased.

"Well… um…" Nel's face turned tomato red "_I think I like someone_!" she shouted causing the people around them to stare. Rukia gasped.

"Who is it?" Rukia urged, eager to find out.

"I'll show you when we get to school, I promise!" the green-haired girl escaped from her demanding friend and ran off ahead of her. Rukia sighed to herself and proceeded to chase after her.

"Got ya! Try running away again and I'll… _hey! Watch it!_" just as Rukia caught up to Nel a bicycle zoomed past her and nearly tripped her over in surprise during the process. The boy on the bicycle slowed down and held up a hand as an apology, the girl was about to push the subject further until she noticed his bright, orange hair that literally glowed in the sunlight.

Rukia had met the latter somewhere before, he was a delinquent in class 3-D she had always avoided. Known for his bleached hair and numerous ear piercings; if she knew someone like that it could mean trouble from her family and her classmates.

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"You've got to be kidding me…he can't be the one." Rukia narrowed her eyes at the sloppily dressed boy who had skull-shaped earrings and super spiky, teal hair that defy gravity. "Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, suave acting, but violent in nature; my eyes are deceiving me… Nel-chan, you do realise that he's from 3-D right, doesn't your parents mind?" Rukia tried to raise another point, but was overwhelmed by her enthusiastic friend.

"But he _is_! Every time I look into those gorgeous teal eyes of his I am sent into a trance!" Nel stared admiringly at the latter and clutched her cell phone tightly in her hands "Oh my gosh, I think he's walking towards us! What to say… what to do…" she began mumbling nonsense.

"Just ask for his email address, it is always a good start." Rukia smiled, she hoped to knock some confidence into her friend. The closer Grimmjow drew his distance the more nervous Nel got.

"Hey you girls, I've never seen you around before, may I have the pleasure of knowing your names?" Grimmjow flashed a grin and winked suggestively at Rukia.

"I'm Nel" the green-haired girl spoke up "and this is Rukia who's…" she was cut off by her crush.

"What a beautiful name…" Grimmjow walked right past his admirer and stood tall before Rukia "this is my phone number, May I have yours?" he handed her a note.

Rukia stood there, speechless; out of the corner of her eye she saw Nel sobbing. Her friend looked up to glare at her while covering her tear-stained face. Rukia knew that glare all too well; she had officially 'stolen' someone else's love-of-life.

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At lunch, Rukia sat alone in the library. She enjoyed the silence and the sound of pages being turned. The smell of ink on paper intrigued her; it felt like she could absorb all of the fascinating stories just by closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Rukia loved to read, Hisana told her that her enthusiasm for books is not a gift but a disaster as it encourages her to daydream and lose herself in another dimension.

The girl snapped back to reality; Neliel had been ignoring her since that morning. She remembered violently shoving Grimmjow's hand away before the note containing his number could even come near her. Then the next thing she knew she ran away and somehow ended up at the library.

There was a gentle tap on the table; Rukia looked up to discover Momo staring down at her.

"Hey Rukia-chan" A girl around her height (still taller than her by two inches) greeted quietly "I saw what happened between Nel and you… Don't stress, it's not your fault at all; Neliel was overreacting and she just needs some time to clear her head right now." She smiled "After all, her crush DID ignore her and approached you instead…"

Rukia wouldn't exactly consider Momo Hinamori as her close friend, but the two did share mutual agreement and liking for one another. The girl always seemed to be there for her when she was feeling down. She took on the role as the class' mentor.

"I don't even like him!" Rukia groaned "In fact, I never could understand WHY Nel-chan would have a crush on someone like him. Not only is that delinquent super insensitive I heard he's a chain smoker as well!"

"Maybe this is what we call the power of unrequited love!" Momo gave a weak laugh "Well, I have lunchtime club activities, I better get going, see you in class!"

"Pfft, don't kid me; the only reason why boys would want to date in high school is so they can get laid" Rukia rolled her eyes as Momo skipped out of the room.

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_**A/N: There are a few things I'd like to clarify.**_

_**I used Neliel as Aya because Nozomu's character was hard to be replaced with anyone. GrimmRuki is purely for plot triggering purposes only. They are currently in their last year of Middle School. 9th grade. After Winter Break ends it would mean High School.**_

_**The classes are ranked in order of the grades. Therefore 3-D would have all the people who don't study well and 3-A is full of smart people and such. **_

_**Liked it? Hated it? R&R it**_


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